Pairings
CytoCore appointed Jorge León to its medical advisory board the company said last week. Leon helped to found the molecular diagnostic and applied genomics business at Quest Diagnostics, where he served as the company's vice president of applied genomics. He is currently founder and president of the diagnostics consulting group Leomics Associates.
Orchid Cellmark on last week said it had entered into a severance agreement with Paul Kelly, whom Orchid fired March 8. Terms of the agreement call for Orchid to pay Kelly $187,500 in six $31,250 monthly installments.
Also that day, Orchid said it has extended the time during which Chairman George Poste will serve as interim CEO. Poste will now man the helm until the company files its quarterly earnings report for the first quarter of 2006 and amends earnings reports for the second and third quarters of 2005. As that time, Thomas Bologna will formally become Orchid's president and CEO.
Previously, Orchid said Bologna would replace Kelly on April 3 or until the company files its 2005 earnings reports.
Epidauros Biotechnology has appointed Michael Lutz as its new CEO, replacing Manfred Zoltobrocki. Lutz joins Epidauros from SuNyx where he most recently worked as CEO and helped sell its Bioanalytics business to Qiagen. He received his PhD in bio-organic chemistry from the ETH in Z rich, Switzerland.
Tom Scholl has been hired by Genzyme Genetics as vice president of technology and development. He comes to Genzyme from Myriad Genetic Laboratories, where he was vice president of technology development.
Scholl has a PhD in molecular and cell biology from Pennsylvania State University, and BS in microbiology from Long Island University and the State University of New York, Plattsburgh.
The Critical Path Institute has appointed Ellen Feigal as its new director of medical devices and imaging. Feigal is on sabbatical from TGen, where she is vice president of clinical sciences and deputy scientific director.
Feigal has a BS in biology and an MS in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and an MD from UC Davis.
New Releases
Qiagen last week launched its EpiTect Biosulfite Kit for standardized sample processing for DNA methylation analysis, the company said in a statement. This product, which also includes DNA methylation technologies from Epigenomics, "significantly facilitates the complex and time-consuming step of DNA bisulfite treatment" necessary for DNA methylation analysis by sequencing or PCR. The streamlined procedure combines a Qiagen DNA-cleanup procedure with a method for preventing excessive DNA degradation during chemical treatment, the company said.
Laboratory Corporation of America said this week that it had launched its Signature Genetics drug response interpretation service for helping physicians use CYP450 data for making treatment decisions based on the genetics of individual patients. The service, a Seryx product, combines clinical data from the physician with genotyping data to create a report that offers information on dosage adjustments to increase effectiveness of current treatments, as well as information about possible adverse drug interactions from concurrent treatments, the company said.